Summertime Japan Fun: Suikawari (Watermelon Pinata)

Summer gets a bit wild over here in Japan. The days get longer, the temperature gets kicked up a notch, and the typhoons start to close in. Summer is undoubtedly the best season to enjoy the outdoors and explore many of Japan's beaches. One favourite pastime in the Japanese summer months is to play the watermelon splitting game... Yes you get to smash watermelons!

So the rules...

1. Distance between player and watermelon: 5-7m2. Stick: circumference of 5cm; length of 120cm or less.3. JSWA-recognized blindfolds. To make sure the player can't see, spectators are encouraged to drop a 10,000-yen note in front of them.4. Watermelon: a well-ripened domestic melon.5. Time limit of 3 minutes.6. Judging: Judges should rate the player on how pretty a break between halves they managed to make. Players who split the watermelon in equal halves receive a higher score than those that smash it into pieces.

Other details: Judges should have eaten at least 10 watermelons in the current year.